In January 2004, Naxos
issued its remasterings of three of
Maria Callas’s first studio recordings.
These were Ponchielli’s La
Gioconda, her very first studio
recording of a complete opera, Bellini’s
I
Puritani and Puccini’s Tosca.
The La Gioconda, like this La Traviata,
was recorded under a contract signed
with the Cetra label in October 1951.
The other two works were the first and
fourth recordings she made for the London-based
Columbia Records (Angel in the USA)
under an exclusive contract signed in
July 1952 at the instigation of Walter
Legge, head of A and R at Columbia.
In my review of the Naxos issue of I
Puritani, I stated that the Cetra contract
had specified that Callas would record
three complete operas for the company.
In the event she only recorded the La
Gioconda and this La Traviata. I wondered
what the third opera might have been.
In recounting that history I repeated
what had long been the perceived truth,
often recorded in print. In his booklet
note to this La Traviata Michael Scott,
a distinguished biographer of Maria
Callas, provides more information. He
states that the original contract with
Cetra specified four operas, the two
referred to and Puccini’s Manon Lescaut
and Boito’s Mefistofele. Scott also
corrects my statement that the two operas
were recorded in September 1952. It
is now clear, and confirmed by research
by Ward Marston, the remastering engineer
of this issue, that the La Traviata
was recorded in September 1953, commencing
on 15th and concluded by
20th.

Maria Callas first
sang Violetta in January 1951 at the
Teatro Communale in Florence. In the
next three seasons Callas sang the role
at Bergamo, Parma, Mexico City, Verona,
Venice and Rome. In all she performed
Violetta 63 times. It ranks second only
to Norma as the role she sang most often.
At the time of these earlier performances
she was not the svelte diva that sang
the role in Chicago in 1954. By then
she had shed 25 kilos of body weight
and her portrayal of Violetta’s death
from tuberculosis in the final scene
was dramatically as well as vocally
a compelling whole. Her stage portrayal
of Violetta’s plight reached its apotheosis
at La Scala in 1955 in the production
by Visconti conducted by Giulini. Whether
it was weight loss or the life style
of the diva after her slimming and divorce,
vocal frailties were becoming more evident.
Walter Legge didn’t wait until 1957
when he could have recorded Callas as
Violetta for Columbia, with her regular
recording partners of Tito Gobbi and
Giuseppe di Stefano. Instead, in 1955
he went ahead signing up Antonietta
Stella to sing Violetta. Callas was
not best pleased! She cannot have failed
to realise that good as her performance
is on this issue her colleagues and
the comprimarios are not in the same
class as herself or her regular partners.

As is widely accepted,
La Traviata is an opera demanding very
different vocal skills of its tragic
heroine. They range between the joyous
coloratura of act 1 and the more dramatic
acts 2 and 3. In the opening party scene
Callas adopts an appropriately light
vivacious tone (CD 1 tr. 2) until she
feels faint. Then she is reflective
as she contemplates Alfredo’s declaration
of love in E Strano (tr. 8) and
pensive for Ah forse e lui (tr.
9) before embarking on the coloratura
of Follie! Follie! and Sempre
Libera (trs. 10-11). Callas conveys,
by vocal nuance, inflection and tonal
colouring the various changes of mood
that Violetta experiences in that scene.
She does so with vocal security and
no fear of the high note. There is no
thinning of the tone such as was to
afflict her singing later. However,
the best Callas is to be heard in the
drama that unfolds in the last two acts
and particularly in the vital duet with
Alfredo’s father. We must curse the
inadequacy of the singing of Ugo Savarese
and yearn for the incisive tone and
vocal characterisation of Gobbi. Despite
Savarese’s lack of dramatic reciprocation,
Callas manages to convey first her scorn
of Germont and then her emotions as
she agrees to his request to forsake
Alfredo and asks that he will, one day,
tell his son of her sacrifice (CD 1
trs. 15-21). The emotional impact is
overwhelming especially if you are able
to follow the words in the Italian or
from a libretto. Callas conveys similar
vocal skill in an equally vivid way
in Teneste la promessa and as
she reads Germont’s letter telling her
that he has fulfilled his promise and
that Alfredo is returning to her (CD
2 trs. 11-12). Violetta knows only too
well that it is too late. Francesco
Albanese sings her Alfredo here. He
sings his Brindisi with some brio (CD
1 tr. 3) and makes considerable efforts
at phrasing and vocal sensitivity in
both Un di’,felice (CD 1 tr. 5) and
Parigi, a cara (CD 3 tr. 15) even if
his instrument and slightly dry tone
defeat this efforts.. Some of the comprimario
roles are very poorly sung. The conductor,
Gabiele Santini, gives his singers plenty
of space for phrasing at the expense
of dramatic impetus. While not having
the élan of Kleiber (DG) he is
preferable to the lumpy Prêtre
(RCA with Caballé) and no more
indulgent than Bonynge (Decca with Sutherland).

The overall recording
quality is not of the standard attained
by Columbia at the same period. However,
it is far better than that on the EMI
issues taken from Callas’s live performances
at La Scala in 1955 and Lisbon in 1958.
In both cases Callas’s partners are
far superior to those here, whilst the
diva’s voice in the Lisbon performances
is well past its prime. This issue does
have Maria Callas’s portrayal of Violetta
recorded at her vocal prime and in reasonable
sound. Despite the limitations of her
colleagues it is the only realistic
choice if you wish to add her superb
portrayal to your collection to go alongside
whatever other versions you have.

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